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Rules for AI at work: so that, in order to and to avoid for team rules

Students learn so that, in order to and to avoid in this B2 English for IT lesson plan on team rules for AI tools.

Grammar
Purpose linkers: to or in order to + verb, to avoid + -ing, so that + a clause (so that Security can review it) and for + -ing for a thing's job.
Topic
A team's working agreement for AI coding tools at Kestrel Cloud, a fictional payments startup, with guardrail, sensitive data and opt out.
Activities
A true story about NIST's AI risk guide, the draft rules, a security review call, self-checking drills, a chat with a new contractor, role cards, and rules to write and present.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: Who Sets the Rules?

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and talk about rules at workSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words for team rulesVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2The Story: A Guide Built in Public

    • Read the story of the NIST AI frameworkArticleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the storyQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3At Work: The Team's AI Agreement

    • Read the mobile team's AI working agreementArticleUnlock
    • True or false? Check the working agreementTrue or falseUnlock
    • Match each rule to its purposeMatchUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Listen: Lena Reviews the Draft

    • Listen to Lena and Kenji review the draftListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the callQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Grammar: Rules With a Reason

    • Study the scheme: purpose linkersGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct sentence for the agreementQuizUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: join each rule and its reason with the words in bracketsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Choose the option that makes sense: positive or negative purposeChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the table: what is it for, and why do we use it?Fill in the tableTry it
    • Drag the linkers into the new Prompts sectionDrag and dropUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Speak Up: Agree on Your AI Rules

    • Choose the right replies to a new contractorChatTry it
    • Open a box: role cards for the AI rules meetingOpen the boxUnlock

  7. Chapter 7Homework: Five Rules and Why

    • Read your phrase bankReal-life documentTry it
    • Do you remember? Choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Is the sentence correct? True or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Write your team's working agreementWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record yourself presenting your team's rulesSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

26 exercises in 7 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • a guideline
  • voluntary
  • sensitive data
  • transparency
  • human oversight
  • a guardrail
  • enforce
  • phase in
  • opt out

Grammar: purpose linkers for rules with a reason

Rules are easier to follow when each one says what it is for, and purpose linkers carry that reason. Working on a team's agreement for AI coding tools, learners match each linker to the form that follows it: a base verb after to, in order to and so as to, -ing after to avoid, a full clause after so that.

Purpose linkers: what is the rule for?

Every rule needs a reason. Give it with to, in order to, so that, to avoid or for.

To, in order to and so as to + base form

To is the everyday choice: We use company accounts to keep an audit trail. In order to and so as to mean the same, but they sound more formal and suit written rules: Set up the repo so as to block the merge until two people approve.

LinkerFollowed byExample
to / in order to / so as tothe base formWe use company accounts to keep an audit trail.
in order not to / so as not tothe base formRedact crash logs in order not to share personal data.
to avoidthe -ing formUse test accounts to avoid copying real payments.
so thatsubject + verb, often with can / will (could / would after a past verb)Ask Lena first so that Security can review the tool.
fora nounSend refund changes to two people for review.
forthe -ing form, for a thing's purposeThe license scanner is a tool for checking licenses.

So that: a purpose with its own subject

With a new subject, use so that + a clause, often with can or will: Ask first so that Security can review the tool. After a past verb, switch to could or would: Kenji wrote a reason for every rule so that new team members could follow it.

So that after a past verb

After a past verb, so that usually takes could or would: “Kenji wrote a reason for every rule so that new team members could follow it.” For a rule today, use can or will: “…so that new team members can follow it.”

Negative purpose: in order not to and to avoid

For something a rule should prevent, put not before to: Redact crash logs first in order not to share personal data. Or use to avoid, which always takes the -ing form: Use the test merchant accounts to avoid copying real payments.

  • Every rule comes with its reason so that new team members can follow it.so that + its own subject + can
  • Redact crash logs first in order not to share personal data.A negative purpose: not goes before to.
  • Use the test merchant accounts to avoid copying real payments.to avoid + -ing
  • Set up the repo so as to block the merge until two people approve.so as to + base: a little formal
  • We review this page at a retro every two months to keep it short.to + base: the everyday choice

For + a noun or -ing

For takes a noun (Send refund changes to two people for review.) or, for what a thing is used for, -ing: a tool for checking licenses. To say why someone acts, use to: We run the scanner to check licenses. For never goes before to + verb.

  • to is the everyday choice; in order to and so as to are more formal and fit written rules.
  • Use so that when the purpose has its own subject: …so that reviewers know where to look.
  • For a negative purpose, use in order not to / so as not to + base or to avoid + -ing.
  • for + -ing says what a thing is for; to say why someone does something, use to: We run the scanner to check licenses.
  • so as never takes a clause: ✗ so as we can → ✓ so that we can.

Typical mistakes

  • We run the scanner for to check licenses.

    We run the scanner to check licenses.

    No for before to + base.

  • Add the label so that to help reviewers.

    Add the label so that reviewers know where to look.

    so that needs a subject and a verb. Or simply: to help reviewers.

  • Blur the names to avoid to leak personal data.

    Blur the names to avoid leaking personal data.

    avoid takes the -ing form.

  • Redact the logs in order to don't share personal data.

    Redact the logs in order not to share personal data.

    not goes before to, and there is no don't.

More lessons on this grammar: Linking words lessons and exercises

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What's in the lesson

  • 13 auto-checked exercises
  • 3 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 1 real-life document
  • 2 articles
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 1 audio clip
  • 1 picture
  • 1 transcript

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • give a rule its reason with to, in order to or so as to: We use company accounts to keep an audit trail.
  • add a purpose with its own subject: Add the label so that reviewers know where to look harder.
  • say what a rule should prevent with in order not to or to avoid + -ing: Use test accounts to avoid copying real payments.
  • agree on team rules for AI tools and write a working agreement: We blur screenshots so that nothing personal ends up in a prompt.

Lesson 21 closes unit 7 of English for IT B2 · Beyond the Code, AI, security and ethics, which moves from discussing AI assistants and security alerts to agreeing on a team's own rules. It builds on the infinitive of purpose from English A2.1 lesson 24 (to + verb), adds so that, in order not to and to avoid + -ing, and carries the unit's task: a team policy for AI coding tools. A rule people might question is where a reason helps most.

A wheel of questions about rules at work opens the lesson, and twelve word cards with pictures and audio run from working agreement to opt out. The story covers NIST's AI Risk Management Framework, a voluntary US guide built in public. Students then check the mobile team's draft agreement, match each rule to its purpose and hear the company's AI policy owner review it in an AI-voiced call. The grammar chapter adds five drills that check themselves, one of them a table that phrases each tool's job two ways. In the speaking chapter, students answer a new contractor in a chat, then use role cards to agree on five rules.

For homework, a phrase bank comes first; a quiz and a true-or-false check go back over the unit's grammar, and a memory match covers the words, all self-checking. Students then write a working agreement for a tool their team uses, with a reason for every rule, and record themselves presenting it; the teacher reviews both.

Grammar:
purpose linkers · so that · in order to · to avoid + -ing
Topic:
AI at work · team rules · the NIST AI Risk Management Framework

Teaching tips

  • Collect rules nobody can explain: an in-company group names a workplace rule people follow without knowing why, and pairs write the missing reason with so that or in order to.
  • Play the review call twice: first for the three changes the speakers agree on, then for every purpose they give, such as to avoid showing real data or so that nobody feels pushed.
  • Write four wrong forms on the board before the drills: for to check, so that to help, to avoid to leak, in order to don't share. Learners correct them, then compare with the scheme.
  • Turn the role cards into a real policy meeting: with a one-to-one learner, take two roles yourself and agree on rules for a tool their company actually uses, from an AI assistant to a shared drive.

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The whole course: English for IT B2 · Beyond the Code

24 lessons at B2 for software teams, in American English. A year on at Kestrel Cloud, a fictional payments startup, Iryna and her team estimate work, write docs and postmortems, argue trade-offs, give demos and negotiate scope. Each lesson starts from a real case, from the Apollo 11 alarms to Conway's law.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Planning and estimates

    estimates and deadlines: approximating numbers, the future continuous and perfect, likelihood

    1. Lesson 1It always takes longerApproximating numbers in estimates
    2. Lesson 2By New Year's Eve, we'll have fixed itFuture continuous and future perfect
    3. Lesson 3Let's play planning pokerLikelihood with bound to, likely to and may well

  2. Unit 2 Docs people read

    specs and design docs: modals for requirements, participle clauses, plain English

    1. Lesson 4MUST, SHOULD or MAY?Modal verbs for requirements in specs
    2. Lesson 5Four kinds of docsParticiple clauses in documentation
    3. Lesson 6Just a request for commentsPlain English for design docs

  3. Unit 3 Incidents and postmortems

    telling an incident without blame: narrative tenses, the passive, the third conditional

    1. Lesson 7The 1202 alarmNarrative tenses for incident stories
    2. Lesson 8Blameless by designActive vs passive voice in a postmortem
    3. Lesson 9If we had had an alert…The third conditional: a different past

  4. Unit 4 Architecture and trade-offs

    comparing options and recording decisions: contrast linkers, modals of deduction, mixed conditionals

    1. Lesson 10Your system copies your org chartContrast linkers for comparing options
    2. Lesson 11It's always DNSModals of deduction for troubleshooting
    3. Lesson 12Write down the whyMixed conditionals for looking back on decisions

  5. Unit 5 Demos and tech talks

    a clear structure on stage: signposting, cleft sentences, describing trends

    1. Lesson 13The mother of all demosSignposting language for demos
    2. Lesson 1420 slides, 15 secondsCleft sentences for emphasis
    3. Lesson 15Numbers that tell a storyDescribing graphs and trends

  6. Unit 6 Stakeholders and scope

    saying no and finding yes: diplomatic language, as long as and unless, negotiating

    1. Lesson 16Pay down the debtDiplomatic language for hard messages
    2. Lesson 17Why meetings argue about the bike shedAs long as, provided, unless and otherwise
    3. Lesson 18Yes, if…Negotiating language for scope and deadlines

  7. Unit 7 AI, security and ethics

    AI tools, passwords and team rules: be used to and get used to, past modals of deduction, purpose linkers

    1. Lesson 19Your new pair programmerUsed to, be used to and get used to
    2. Lesson 20Change your password? Maybe notPast modals of deduction
    3. Lesson 21 · you're hereRules for AI at workPurpose linkers for rules with a reason

  8. Unit 8 Growing your career

    feedback, retros and goals: phrasal verbs, reporting verbs, wish and if only

    1. Lesson 22Your next levelCareer phrasal verbs and goal frames
    2. Lesson 23Feedback that helpsReporting verbs and their patterns
    3. Lesson 24Start, stop, continueWish and if only for wishes and regrets

Questions about this lesson

How do you use in order to?
Use in order to + base form to give the purpose of an action, a little formally: We use company accounts in order to keep an audit trail. Plain to means the same and is the everyday choice; in order to sounds more formal, so it suits written rules, policies and docs. For a negative purpose, not goes before to: Redact the logs in order not to share personal data.
How do you use so that in a sentence?
Use so that when the purpose has its own subject and verb: Add the label so that reviewers know where to look. Blur the names so that nothing personal ends up in a prompt. It often takes can or will, and could or would after a past verb: I wrote a reason for every rule so that newcomers could follow it. A bare verb can't follow it, so so that to help is wrong.
How do you use to avoid in a sentence?
To avoid + -ing gives the reason not to do something: Use test accounts to avoid copying real payments. The verb after avoid is always an -ing form, so to avoid to leak is wrong. With a base verb, say so as not to or in order not to: Never paste keys into a prompt, so as not to leak them. A question about screenshots in the chat of Rules for AI at work on edio.ai tests this.
What are purpose linkers in English?
Purpose linkers are words that introduce the reason for an action: to, in order to, so as to, so that, to avoid and for. Each needs its own form: a base verb after the first three, -ing after to avoid, a subject and verb after so that, and a noun or -ing after for. The simplest, to + verb, is often called the infinitive of purpose: We run the scanner to check licenses.
What's the difference between so that and in order to?
The difference is what follows: a base verb or a whole clause. In order to takes a verb and keeps the sentence's subject: Redact the logs in order to protect customers. So that brings its own subject and verb, often with can: Redact the logs so that nobody can see customers' names. So as can't start a clause: say so that we can, never so as we can.
Is it "in order not to" or "in order to don't"?
It's in order not to, with not right before to: Redact the logs in order not to share personal data. There is no don't after to, so in order to don't share is wrong. So as not to keeps the same order: Keep AI out of sprint goals so as not to pressure anyone. The scheme of Rules for AI at work, a B2 English for IT lesson on edio.ai, lists this among four typical mistakes.
When do you use for + -ing instead of to + verb?
Use for + -ing to say what a thing is used for, and to + verb to say why someone does something: The license scanner is a tool for checking licenses. We run the scanner to check licenses. For to check and for check are both wrong. A table on this page, from Rules for AI at work on edio.ai, asks for both forms in eight rows.
How do you write an AI policy for a team?
A team AI policy works best as short rules, each followed by its reason: Team members use company accounts, so that every prompt stays in the audit trail. Never paste customer data or secrets into a prompt. Anyone may opt out. Cover tools, prompts, human oversight, transparency and choice, and say who enforces each rule. Role cards in Rules for AI at work on edio.ai turn this into a meeting.
What does NIST AI RMF stand for?
NIST AI RMF stands for the AI Risk Management Framework from NIST, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. Version 1.0, published on January 26, 2023, is a voluntary guide for organizations that design, develop, deploy or use AI systems. Its core has four functions, Govern, Map, Measure and Manage, which are easiest to explain by their purpose: Map is for understanding the context, so that you can see where the risks are.
What's the difference between a policy and a guideline?
A policy is a company's official set of rules; a guideline is advice on how to do something, not a strict rule. A working agreement is a short list of rules a team writes for itself, sometimes an addendum to a company policy. To check, ask: Is that a rule or a guideline? Who enforces it? Both questions are in the phrase bank of Rules for AI at work on edio.ai, shown on this page.
How do you practice so that and in order to with an in-company group?
Have the group write rules for a tool they share, such as their chat, bug tracker or AI assistant, with a reason after every rule: We post release notes on Mondays so that support can prepare. We keep secrets out of tickets to avoid leaking them. Then each person defends the rule others will question most. The homework in Rules for AI at work on edio.ai asks for this: a working agreement for one shared tool, then a recorded presentation.
Are there interactive exercises for so that and in order to?
Yes: a self-checking table and chat drill these linkers with instant feedback. Without an account, this page plays four parts of Rules for AI at work, a B2 English for IT lesson on edio.ai: a call in which a security engineer reviews the team's AI rules, a table that turns each tool's job into for + -ing and to + verb, a chat with a new contractor, and the homework's phrase bank. The rest of the lesson stays locked.
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